He says it’s only natural for a “free-market, pro-business, low-tax conservative” to support an agricultural product in high demand that’s nothing like its notorious cousin, marijuana.

But opponents – including many Republicans – say it’s folly that would cripple law enforcement and is one step away from legalizing pot.

Industrial hemp is a member of the cannabis plant species, but it is not marijuana, despite the similar 11-point leaf. Try and smoke it, and all you’ll get is a splitting headache.

Hemp has a long history in the United States. Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it. Henry Ford built a car made of it.

During World War II, the federal government even encouraged farmers to grow 50,000 acres of it for rope and parachute harnesses in a “Hemp for Victory” campaign.

But when the war ended, the government grouped hemp in with marijuana, making it illegal to grow here.

But it’s still legal to import hemp for use in American products, which fuel a $250 million hemp market that is growing by $26 million a year.

And DeVore thinks that situation doesn’t make sense.

“Why is it the government’s business to say you can import a plant but not grow it in North America?” he asks.

DeVore has teamed up with his political opposite to try to change the situation: San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno – the author of the gay marriage bill that DeVore voted against.

Their bill would redefine industrial hemp as an agricultural product, permitting California farmers to grow it.

Six states are considering or have passed legislation that would allow growing hemp, but none are as thorough or detailed as California’s, said Adam Eidinger, a spokesman for Vote Hemp.

If the DeVore-Leno bill passes, California could become the first to grow hemp like any other farm crop.

Opponents say that would lead to fields of legal hemp that could easily be confused with illegal marijuana – a nightmare scenario for law enforcement.

Moreover, they say legalizing hemp would be the foot in the door for legalizing marijuana.

“No pun intended, but there’s a lot of cross-pollination between the industrial hemp and marijuana movements,” said John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers Association, which opposes the bill.

DeVore and Leno scoff at the slippery-slope argument.

“Yeah, and you let poppy seeds on your bagel and the next thing you know, we’ll have legalized opium,” Leno said.

Meanwhile, some businesspeople are eager to take advantage of what bill proponents call a “miracle crop” for its myriad uses.

Charles Meyer, a farmer outside Bakersfield, would like to add hemp to the crops he grows on his 2,000-acre farm.

He thinks he could make 80 cents to a $1 a pound on hemp, more than the 70 cents a pound he makes on cotton and 7 cents a pound he makes on wheat.

And David Bronner, the owner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps in Escondido, produces hemp soaps and estimates he could save 20 percent on overhead if he didn’t have to import hemp from Canada.

The DeVore-Leno bill narrowly passed the state Assembly 44-32, and will go to the Senate when the Legislature returns from recess Monday. But it will have to find enough Democratic support to pass, because with few exceptions, Republicans are wary of touching a bill that, at worst, they disagree with or at best could make them look soft on drugs.

In the Assembly, for example, not a single Republican besides DeVore voted for the bill.

For them, backing the hemp bill would be like “inviting your opponent (in an election) to attack you,” said Mike Petracca, the chairman of the political science department at UC Irvine.

Even if the bill passes the Senate, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would still have to sign it, and it’s not clear what his position is. The governor’s office does not comment on legislation that hasn’t yet reached his desk, said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the governor.

But DeVore has picked up the support of at least one respected Republican: Tom McClintock.

The Thousand Oaks senator and candidate for lieutenant governor said he would vote for the bill in the Senate, and dismissed any notion that supporting hemp would taint his stance on drugs.

“Industrial hemp bears no more similarity to marijuana than a poodle bears to a wolf,” he said. “Same species, but totally different critter.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.